[MUSIC] Now, let's take a look at
the future of 3D printing. Making predictions is always dangerous. As Yogi Berra once said,
it's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. None the less, I'll give it a try. At present, the stock prices for
leading 3D printing manufacturers such as 3D systems and
Stratasys have been in sharp decline. And several commentators are suggesting that 3D printing's reality
hasn't matched its hype. Although these commentators
may be partially right, we believe the future of 3D
printing is actually quite bright. In particular,
we believe there are three key trends that suggest that 3D printing's
best days are yet to come. The first trend is explosion
of 3D hardware manufacturers. Up until the year 2009,
the 3D printing industry was controlled by two firms,
3D Systems, and Stratasys. Since then, the number of 3D printing
manufacturers have exploded. There are now over 300 companies,
making 3D printers and the number keeps on increasing. In addition, the technology that these
printers employ is quickly evolving. One of my favorites is the Mcor printer. Now this printer is made by the McCormick
brothers out of Scotland and it has a very interesting technique. This printer uses remote standard
desktop printer paper and it has a feeding mechanism that
feeds in one piece at a time. As far as it's print head it
has three separate components. First, it has a very sharp tiny
razor that cuts each sheet of paper. Second, it has a coloring
device that colors the paper. And then it finally applies a glue to
adhere one piece of paper to another. And it keeps on repeating until you
have a 3D printed paper object, which can be finished with a varnish and
hardened. So, this is a really interesting
example about subtractive as well add in manufacture in a single unit. Another interesting example
is the new Voxel printer. This printer was designed and
created by Jennifer Lewis, who is a material science professor. She used to be at
the University of Illinois. She's now at Harvard University. And this machine has 2 print heads. One print head extrudes plastic
like a standard FDM machine and the second print head extrudes a special
conductive ink that Jennifer created. So it has these two different
print heads that allow you to do some really fascinating things. This explosion in the number
of 3D hardware manufacturers, suggests that this is
an industry in its infancy. As a point of comparison there
are over 1 billion personal computers in the world and
less than 500,000 3D printers. So we have a long ways to go. And we're still in the very early stages
with substantial growth in the future. The second trend is the advances
in 3D printing materials. As you can see from the example of
the voxel printer, the types and capabilities of materials that can
be 3D printed is quickly growing. In addition to being able to print
material that conducts electricity, researchers are working on a material that
actually allows the 3D print a battery. Now, once we are able to 3D print
batteries of conductive ink we're only a short ways away from being
able to print electronic devices. Other examples of advanced 3D printing
materials include liquid metal like the terminator, and graphene. Graphene is 200 times stronger than
steel and it conducts electricity. A great book that goes into
the future of these materials, is this book by Hod Lipson
called Fabricated. In this book, Hod talks about,
not just 3D printing, but something he calls 4D printing, in which
a 3D printed device will have advanced materials that actually
will change over time. Our 3D printing and hardware course,
we discuss these advances in both 3D hardware and
materials in much more detail. The third trend is developments
in 3D modeling software. There are also reported
advances happening in terms of the software that
we use to create 3D objects. At present, 3D modeling software
requires the user to obtain a fairly high degree of
technical knowledge. In order to create usable 3D designs. However, new software is emerging
that is much more intuitive. For example, Google is working on
a new project called Soli that will allow us to create 3D objects
simply by moving our finger in space. Another interesting example is
a new method called Maker's Marks, which is being developed by
researchers at Stanford University. In the University of California. Now, this method allows
users to create 3D designs by using a combination of
modeling clay and stickers. It's quite interesting. The article that explains this technique
can be found in our additional resources page. And our 3D printing software course, we discuss developments in 3D
software in much greater detail. In order to give you some perspective, on
where we stand now in terms of the stages of 3D printing technology,
let me tell you a bit of a personal story. Back in 1982,
when I was playing Dungeons and Dragons, one of my friends,
Atsuo Yoshida had purchased, or his parents bought him,
a new Apple II computer. Now, this computer was actually
a predecessor to the famous Mac by a couple years,
and it was a computer. You had a monitor on top of it,
actual floppy disc, and I think we had four K of RAM
which is unbelievably small. And we would use this computer to create
random number generators that we'd be using for our Dungeons and Dragons game. So after one night of playing Dungeons and Dragons and using ASUS new Apple II
computer, my grandmother picked me up. And I was raised by grandparents who
were living on social security and I got back home and
I told my grandmother I need a computer. Has one, I need to have one as well and
she said, well how much do they cost? Well, about $2000. So, what could I do with it? Well, you can store your recipes on it. And she said to me, well,
I don't have a recipe storage problem. So as a result, as you can imagine,
we didn't buy that computer. Now, if we fast forward to today,
if I was that same young man today. And I said to my grandmother, I need a
computer, it would pretty easy to justify what I need it for,
because they can do so many things. I need to do my homework, to connect
with my friends and simply live my life. So, where we are now with
current 3D printing technology, is where we were back then 1982,
with a desktop personal computer. In effect, although we're making all
these cool things like rhinoceroses An iPhone cases, and dice. That these are simply just recipes. To think about how far we've gone
from personal computers since 1982, imagine the fast the potential
the treaty prating holds in the future. I hope this brief discussion
derives you with the new insights into the revolutionary
potential of 3D printing and stimulates your interest in learning
more about this amazing technology. There are many videos in
this portion of the course. We'll have interviews with several
leading 3D printing experts and entrepreneurs, who are currently
leading this new revolution. I think you'll find their stories to
be both fascinating and also inspired. Looking into the future, I'd like to share
with you this quote from William Gibson, who's a famous science fiction writer and somebody who thinks
often about the future. As a result,
about 10 years ago he was asked by Fortune magazine to offer some
thoughts about the future. And here's what he said. He said, the future is already here. It's just not evenly distributed. And that's where we
stand with 3D printing. 3D printers are already here, but
most people haven't seen them and haven't used them. So, by taking part of this specialization,
learn about 3D printing, the future will already be here for you. [MUSIC]